RYAN SWEEZEY
By DAN TOMASELLO
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — Patience is a virtue.
After over two years in the making, singer-songwriter Ryan Sweezey released his fifth record, “Out Searching,” last month. The South Burlington, Vermont-based singer-songwriter, who graduated from Lynnfield High School in 2010, said he is “really excited that it’s finally been released.”
“It has been in the works for a very long time,” said Sweezey. “The last full proper album I released was in January 2017. I started recording it in 2019, and had most of it recorded by the end of that year. Everything slowed to a crawl when COVID hit.”
While Sweezey finished “Out Searching” at the end of 2020, he delayed releasing it because he wanted to promote the record with a full band.
“There wasn’t a real rush to get it out because I wanted to celebrate it with a full band show, but that was difficult last year with all of the uncertainty,” said Sweezey. “I pushed it back because I wanted to make sure I had a promotional plan for what I wanted to do. In the past, I would record an album and then release it to the world. This gave me a little bit more time to figure out how to release it properly.”
Sweezey recalled that he worked closely with producer and engineer Chris Hawthorn while making the record.
“What I love most about this record above all my others is that it sounds the most me of anything I’ve done up to this point,” said Sweezey. “Musicians always think their most recent project is their best, but I truly believe that of ‘Out Searching.’ I love my old records, but when we made them, we either tried to make them sound like something very specific or conversely tried to avoid sounding a certain way, and maybe things didn’t come out so naturally because of that. With this one, Chris and I went in with a totally open mind in terms of what kind of sound we wanted. If you don’t enjoy and identify with the music you’re making, then why make it?”
“Out Searching” featured Sweezey on acoustic guitar and vocals, Hawthorn on keyboards, Jay Barclay on electric guitar, Kyle Saulnier on bass, Caleb Bronz on drums and Shay Gestal on fiddle. He recalled that Barclay recorded “the electric guitar parts remotely from Nashville, Tennessee.”
“Jay has been a touring guitarist with Augustana, which is my favorite band of all-time,” said Sweezey. “It was a bit of a dream come true to have Jay involved.”
Sweezey said “Out Searching” is the first official album he has released since he moved to Vermont in 2017.
“The theme of ‘Out Searching’ is about a new beginning, going through things and trying to find yourself,” said Sweezey.
Sweezey noted that 1990s rock bands such as Counting Crows and Matchbox Twenty as well as classic rock artists such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are some of his biggest influences.
“Some people have said my music sounds similar to Gin Blossoms,” said Sweezey. “Sonically, it sounds like older bands and it does not include samples, synthesizers and drum machines, which are used by a lot of pop musicians. For some musicians, there can be a big focus on trying to separate yourself from your influences to set yourself apart. There is certainly something to be said for that, but I think it can also restrict you in some ways. I don’t think you necessarily need to reinvent the wheel sonically to make good music as long as you’re saying something that’s real in your own words that people are able to connect to. Letting your influences shine through unfiltered gives the music life, joy and energy.”
Sweezey said the recording process for “Out Searching” was an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
“We just laid down the basic tracks and started adding layers,” said Sweezey. “We let it come to life without too much of an agenda, and the result was something that feels so organic. It sounds raw and real, yet polished and deliberate. It sounds like the music I listen to.”
Sweezey said “Out Searching” includes eight songs, which he noted borders on being a “long EP.” He recalled that a number of larger acts and smaller groups have turned to releasing EPs and singles digitally as opposed to the 1960s and 1970s when a number of bands such as The Beatles and Pink Floyd released double albums on vinyl.
“When you are an unknown commodity, it makes you focus on deciding which are the right songs to release as opposed to releasing 20 and seeing which ones stick,” said Sweezey. “The last album featured seven songs, which is classified as a long EP while this one is a short album.”
While Sweezey often performs solo acoustic shows at breweries and small venues around Vermont, he will be performing with a full band during record release shows in June and July. He will be performing at The Burren Irish Pub and Restaurant in Somerville on July 22. He will also be hosting a record release party at The Monkey House in Winooski, Vermont on June 18.
“I mostly play solo, but I have put together a band for these album release parties,” said Sweezey. “For the show in Vermont on June 18, the folks in the live band are me on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Jesse Agan on electric guitar, Josh Glass on keyboard, Trevor Contois on bass and Eric Belrose on drums. Josh and Trevor won’t be able to make it down to Massachusetts for the show in Somerville on July 22. A couple Boston-area musicians are going to fill in for that show. George Woods, who is also opening the show and produced my ‘Starting Over’ EP, will be playing bass and Josh Friedman will be playing keyboards. Playing with a band is a lot more fun than playing solo.”
In addition to performing his own music, Sweezey also performs with two other bands in Vermont: Shake and the Jesse Agan Band. He recalled that he and Agan recently performed a Queen tribute show last month.
Sweezey won the Advance Music Singer-Songwriter Contest in Burlington, Vermont in 2019.
“One of the things I got from winning the contest was two free days of studio time at a defunct studio in Vermont,” said Sweezey. “I didn’t need it at the time because I was working on ‘Out Searching’ at a different studio. I decided to record live one-take solo acoustic songs. Even though 99 percent of my live act is solo acoustic songs, I had never recorded that way besides some demos in high school. My family in particular wanted to hear just me. I used that time to record 15 one-take original songs. I broke the 15 songs into three EPs that each had five songs. That is when I started testing out releasing EPs instead of albums. I released those every couple of months in 2020.”
Sweezey said growing up in Lynnfield set the stage for his musical career.
“Lynnfield was an awesome place to grow up,” said Sweezey. “The Music Departments at Lynnfield Middle School and Lynnfield High School were extremely formative for me. I started off playing alto saxophone in band during fifth grade. I started taking guitar lessons, and music started to take over when I got into high school. I was a hockey player when I was younger, but everything shifted to the arts in high school. I performed in Concert Band, two Jazz Bands, Chamber Singers and a cappella. When I was a freshman, I performed for the first time in front of people at a Coffeehouse. I loved it and decided to keep going. During my senior year, I was in ‘Grease’ in 2009. I was a quiet and shy kid growing up, and the support from my family, friends and teachers inspired me to give music a shot.”
In addition to being a musician, Sweezey also works full-time as a data analyst. He previously worked in banking.
“Out searching” is available on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. For more information about Sweezey, visit www.ryansweezey.com.
